Solid Carbon Dosing with EcoBAK

Hey Powerman

Anything to report?

 

Ya WT, I made a thread and have updated that. Here you go.

http://www.3reef.com/forums/general...marine-ecobak-journey-89093-2.html#post914818

 

I just received 1L of the new Warner Marine EcoBAK pellets to experiment on my personal 180gal display. I have been intrigued about the solid vodka dosing for some time know and with the a company like Warner Marine entering this market I just had to give it a shot. With work and summer activities my tank has taken serious neglect so effects of this product will be easily noticed and I plan to keep everything controlled for 4-5 months to evaluate this very promising product. If it works like I imagine it will this will be added to the list of common reef necessities like GFO and activated carbon.

A little about my tank, equipment, livestock and maintenance.
I have a standard AGA 180 gal with a 75 gal sump. The sump contains a DSB of about 8" but I no longer have any macro algae. I have a Reef Octopus XP3000ext on the system and only use activated carbon on occasion. The systems circulation is provided by 3 MP40 Vortechs. I will place the new Warner Marine EcoBAK Pellets in my ATB media reactor and will feed it off of my manifold that is fed off my Reeflo Dart return pump. I plan to test the water parameters tonight and place the media on line.

Here is the most recent shot of the 180gal with the LEDs on. I will get a more up-to-date shot tonight to document the results.

 

So, I got some Warner Marine EcoBak pellets about when this thread started (mid May)... I didn't post anything, because other than to say that I put them in the tank there wasn't much to post, really...

Well now that they've been in there for almost 5 months, and in the past month I've tested zero detectable nitrates and phosphates. I say detectable, because that is all I can test for.

I placed 500mL of pellets in a bag hanging in my 120's overflow drain area, so I'm not using a reactor set up at all... I have shaken the pellets once or twice to knock off debris, but they are pretty much undisturbed where the are.

The last time I tested for nitrates and phosphates, which was before I started using the pellets, I had ~5 phosphates, ~5-10 Nitrates. Now Zero.

Are they working? I'd say, yeah probably... I've never measured zero nitrates before, so I'm pretty excited about that!

 

maybe with this post the biopellet phenomenon will finally hit 3reef, I have been using NP pellets for months. They work great.

 

I haven't had any of the cyano problems that others are reporting on other sites... many folks seem to be running theirs in a reactor though... not sure if that has anything to do with it, but from what I've read, I think it might. the consensus with those folks is to keep the pellets tumbling in the reactor... I'm not sure that the bacteria really care if the media is tumbling or not. The way I see it, with the way these things are supposed to work all that is needed is a good flow around them.

That's why I have mine hanging in a bag in the overflow...

Has anyone here ever had a Rock Tumbler? You know how those work, right? abrasion and erosion... My thinking is that the tumbling pellets are eroding themselves, and the very small pieces are getting downstream and sitting on the subtrate where cyano starts to consume them... but that's just my guess. I don't want to discredit anyone who has successfully run theirs in a reactor, I just don't think it's necessary. John Warner didn't think so either when I talked to him on the phone...

Sometimes we need to not forget to just keep things simple...

 

the point of the tumbling is not for bacteria growth, but to knock bacteria on the surface off so it can be skimmed out and new bacteria will grow back on the pellets. It will drop the levels faster.

also I'm pretty sure the cyano matt is talking about is from vodka being dosed.

 

I have mine running in a TLF reactor lite tumble.they have been going for just over 1 month..no sign of cyano..coral colors look a little brighter,growth has been the same..I test zero for nitrate and phos..but still have visible algea growth...but I have noticed I clean the glass less recently..also I have the reactor output going right next to the skimmer input and have noticed an increase in skimmate production after a week or so of running..

 

ahh.. makes sense... I'm still not convinced that tumbling is really necessary, but I do see the thought process behind it...